Der Alte Rentner

Jon, I did not separate the grating from the laser cut pieces. What you see is what you get with the model shipways kit. What I learned not to do, was to do any sanding on the detail laser etching.

It is indeed, but it's there - from roughly bulkhead G fore and aft. Clearly discernable on the plans (page 4). Look closely at the planking detail next to the bowsprit coaming. Also look at the planks close to the centerline from the fife rail aft. And the coup de gras is on page 20 of the instruction manual. "Deck planks taper for and aft and usually follow the curve of the bulwarks. Consequently, Mark the top of the bulkheads beforehand for the planking runs." So, It's not really a question of are they tapered? Rather, one of, do I want to do so? Among the premier build blogs at this site, there is no real consensus. Some of the best, including yourself, have done it, others have not. Thanks Jon

The plans that came with the model shipways kit shows that the planks get narrower as they approach the stern. Look at xken's build. He put tick marks all along his carrier deck to aid him in tapering the planks. I think it's similar to the way you plank the sides of the hull. I've looked at five different builds here at model ship world, and of the five I've checked, three have done the tapering and two have not. Do you have another image of The Spar deck taken from perhaps midships to the stern? Preferably from above?

I never for one moment thought that you would put this project to rest. I remember that you took a break last summer as well. Enjoy your summer and stay cool.

Exactly why I feel that you could produce a superior product by compiling all of your photos and experience into the Matson practicum. I repeat, I'd be a buyer! I have only the vaguest recollection of rigging the Revell kit 50 years ago, but I think you are correct in the order you described. Basically Standing rigging first, running rigging last. And of course, bottom up and inside out. I do remember taking a lot of shortcuts, and making much use of CA glue instead of tying knots. Thanks for confirming that you tapered your planks. I still haven't decided if I'm going to do that myself. First I have to come up with a butt joint plan and locate all of the places between the bulkheads that need support pieces added. In the end though, I don't think I'm going to let historical accuracy drive my model build. To be sure, I will not be adding 4,000 rivets to the bulwarks! That is a very interesting photo Thanks again for all, Peter

Wow, that's an interesting approach. I was wondering why you went to so much detail on the gun deck if most of it would be hidden by the spar deck. Now I understand. You're going to Showcase your work on the gun deck, and I can't wait to see that. Thanks

Geoff, First, I'll say this again. I wish you had posted the early work on the Constitution. I just love the detail you've put into everything I've seen here. The photos below are the only ones I found providing a decent view of your spar deck planking. I'm trying to decide whether to taper the planks ala Hunt practicum, or not. Did you taper? and did you scribe the butt joints? If not, how did you manager the the plank ends that hovered over empty space between bulkheads? As an aside: As I study the half dozen or so other builds I consult for tips and direction, I can't help but be impressed by the subtle differences in approaches. Paint the coamings and hatches? Stain them? Leave them alone? Likewise the decisions on how to tackle the deck. Rivets on the bulwarks? .. to name a few. Lastly, If you ever compile your notes on masts and rigging and publish them, I'm a buyer of the Matson practicum! I'm at least a year from having to deal with any of that, so you've got time. If not, I'll be visiting this build log day and night when I get to that point. Thanks for posting your outstanding build. Peter

red sweat? oh my!

Nice work, I wish I'd done a better job on mine. But looking at mine without magnifying glass on my nose, I can live with it. ... and I have to ask, what's your plan for the spar deck planking? Tapering as you work aft? Scribed butt joints or short planks?

I hope those red flecks aren't drops of blood! 😁

I have tried this, but if I'm going to thin the paint and apply multiple coats, especially at the waterway and bulwarks (assuming I'm going to paint at all - the decision point rapidly drawing near 🙁), I'd rather mask and spray. So, I'll be checking into that Iwata RG-3L mini gun. Thanks again Peter

Thanks for the notes on the airbrush and techniques. I've been perusing your build intently today in my research preparatory to planking the spar deck any further. On the matter of tapering the planks, I think I can safely conclude that you were not in that camp. However, how did you manage your butt joint plan? Did you go the Hunt route and scribe these in after the fact? Also, it's hard to tell from this picture, but did you put support pieces under the areas where the planks butted up against one another? Thanks again, Best Peter

Mustafa, I'm beginning the process of planking the spar deck, and am researching how other builders have tackled this. I took note of your methodology on planking the gun deck, where you cut planks short instead of cutting long strips and scribing in butt joints. (I saw the reference marks on your carrier deck for the butt joints.) However, I did notice that you did not taper the planks there. What's your plan for the spar deck? Will you be tapering the planks as you work your way aft? Thanks in advance. Peter

Little progress today. Part of the reason for this is that, once again, I didn't look far enough ahead a year ago. This business of adding filler pieces between the bulkheads to have some material below the plank butt joints is driving me batty. Looking back at XKen's build, he employed a "deck carrier" to facilitate planking the spar deck off the hull. Now, as I recall, he didn't mention that he had to shave a 64th off the top of the bulkheads to account for the additional thickness of the deck carrier until later in the build when someone else asked him about it. But with the benefit of 2020 hindsight, and multiple passes of studying his build, I think that was the right way to approach this deck planking. Especially if you want to stick with some kind of planking scheme where you're not faking butt joints. For what it's worth now, I think I'll be embracing this false butt joint approach to get me past this stage. By the way, I thought planking the hull was tedious. If I stick with Hunt's notion of tapering the planks, this will be much worse than the work on the hull. Having taken a close look at the deck of the Niagara build that's been featured in the two most recent issues of Nautical Research Journal, I may opt out of this tapering the entire plank strategy, choosing instead to keep the planks parallel and have a few sharper tapers where the plank butts meet the waterways. I did take Cookster's approach and assembled small sections of the planking off the hull. When edge gluing the planks, I do so on top of a piece of wax paper so that the squeeze out doesn't stick to my fixture. It remains to be seen if this process will be helpful on longer sections. I suspect it will be useless if employing the tapered plank approach. Again, not much to show for four hours at the shipyard today, but such is life. Funny thing about this particular section of planking.. It's the section between the forward hatch and the galley stack hatch. The reason I chose to do this off the hull is that I thought it would be easier to locate and cut out the whole for the foremast. Guess what I forgot to do before I glued the section in? I'll never tell. 🤐 Note the filler blocks between bulkheads C and D. If you look closely, you'll see the butt joints just aft of the foremast that would otherwise be hanging over empty space. Once again, my trusty Proxxon mill proved indispensable in carving out the notch for the galley stack hatch.

Looking good. Keep up the good work.

Mine too. 😁

Filler blocks made to span the gap from bulkhead A to the waterway at the bow. They are actually tall enough that they're glued onto the bow filler blocks a little more than an inch below. I tapered the top faces to facilitate the rise from bulkhead A to the waterway. Then I began planking. In my case, given the number of planks between the edges of the bowsprit and forward hatches, the pattern between butt joints will be symmetrical about the centerline of the deck. The most useful tool in my arsenal is the Proxxon mill. Using two vices, I had no problem dialing in the exact depth of the cutouts on the planks that wrap around the hatches. To Jon's point earlier, I don't know how anyone can do this kind of fabrication well without the proper tools and techniques. I have noticed that the spacing according to the plans will result in my having to put more filler pieces into the framework to provide real estate for planks and hatches to find a home. That will be next on the list. Hey hey! Studying Cookster's build log because he had some really detailed process on planking the spar deck. And, what do you know, he too used filler blocks at the bow to accommodate deck planks. Drat, I should have jotted down is post number.. I think this came from page 5 of his Constitution build.

I was going to refer you to XKen's build, where I believe he made his galley stack from scratch. But then I caught the limiter in your comment - "with my skill and tools". That man had a lot of specialized skills and tools.

As I just learned in my experimentation on the Constitution. I simulated afixing channels onto a sample board that had been prepped with four coats of polycrylic. I also attached one of those eyebrows that goes over the gun ports. The channel popped off without much encouragement. Ironically, the eyebrow hung on tenaciously. No polycrylic for me until at least the channels have been properly secured. Thanks

I hope that's what I just did by updating my post 14, Jon. So as to avoid sending you back there to see what I'm referring to, I'll recap here. I just started planking the spar deck and immediately became aware of several missteps early on in the build, that have compounded to give me grief now. When I constructed the bow framing, way back in Hunt's Chapter 2, I did not understand that spar deck planking needed to rest on the spar deck framing piece. Compounding that with my error in not constructing the waterway to plan, I am now faced with the need to construct a pair of filler blocks to make up for both the height difference and the loss of deck planking real estate at the bow. In retrospect, I think the spar deck frame pieces should have been made differently, sparing me the rework now. These photos should make clear the hole I dug for myself: 1. The problem today, showing the misshapen waterway, which resulted in the lost ledge to support the spar deck planks. 2. Clear 20/20 hindsight illustrated. Photo P 2.4.1-10 3. Photo 4.4.1-1 from Hunt's Chapter 4. 4. How maybe the spar deck frame could have been constructed to avoid the whole issue? Plan A (in red) gives you much more real estate for planking and to glue on the bowsprit hatch. Plan B (black dots) would probably have been sufficient, but perhaps there's something I don't know now about why Hunt added the undocumented framing pieces that magically appear in Chapter 4.

Not being familiar with this particular model, I must ask, what is a pole holder? I'll pour myself a Manhattan while I await your reply. Cheers!

So yes. he mixed his own Jon, you are the MAN. Thank you.

In reviewing XKen's build log, I read that he used "black glue" to simulate caulking between deck planks on the spar deck. I can't believe he would have used CA glue, which is all I can find online on a search. Does anyone know of a regular wood glue in black? Or did he just add black dye to something like Elmer's glue or Titebond? Thoughts?

i would not want to get stain on the spar deck planking. Even the gel stain, which can be applied very accurately with a brush, needs to be wiped off. I'm not sure this can be done with enough care to avoid smearing. I'll add that to my list of experiments after 😁. Thanks.

That post was 8 years ago. If you're still checking in, what happened? Once I stumbled on your build log, I became enamored and would love to see you finish the San Francisco.